The Little Things In Life
by condesce
Summary: It's the little things in life that matter. As long as you're happy, I am too. / AU USUK fluff


Arthur Kirkland didn't think his shift would end fast enough. He loved what he did and he wouldn't change it for the world, however he was especially excited for tonight and he wanted to get home as soon as possible.

Arthur lived with his boyfriend Alfred in a small apartment in London. Because the two of them were young and had low paying jobs, they didn't have a lot of money. This irritated Alfred to no end and when he'd tried getting two jobs, Arthur eventually told him he couldn't continue like that because the American was just too worn out. Alfred hated his situation and he wanted the best for them both so he'd tried to be the hero. Unfortunately, life decided it wouldn't make it easy so he took Arthur's advice and finally quit the lower paying job.

But tonight, because of the extra shifts Alfred had bagged and because he earned some extra money, they were going to the movies. Treats like this were rare but when they did happen, Arthur was in a good mood for days afterwards which suited Alfred absolutely fine.

The British man parked his car and hurried into the apartment building and to the elevator. He pressed the button that would take him to the sixth floor and waited. The elevator couldn't move any slower and when it finally opened, he walked quickly down the hall to his apartment. He moved to unlock the door but he frowned when he discovered it was already open. He'd told Alfred a million times to keep the door locked; anyone could just wander in and rob them.

Alfred then said he was being too paranoid. Arthur huffed and said he was just being safe.

He pushed open the door to the apartment and the sound of gunfire met his ears. Flinching, he narrowed his eyes and stormed to the living area (after shaking his head in disgust at the mess that was his apartment) and scowled at his American boyfriend and that albino German guy from across the hall playing Call of Duty.

"Alfred Jones, just what on earth do you think you're doing?" he demanded as he crossed his arms. Alfred jumped; obviously startled by Arthur's sudden arrival and he dropped the controller out of pure fright. He looked over at his annoyed little Brit and rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"Hey, Artie... did you have a good day?" he asked with a small (if not slightly scared) smile. He knew he was in trouble now...

"Yes, actually... I did. Now will you please explain to me why you are playing games with _him _when I asked you this morning to tidy up?" he asked in a venomous tone. Usually when Alfred had a day off and Arthur was working, he would ask him to tidy the apartment and then he could do whatever he wanted. It was only fair. However it irritated him to no end that Alfred would smile sweetly, kiss his cheek and say he would deal with it, only to find that he hadn't.

"Look, Artie—"

"Don't call me that!"

"All right... Arthur listen, I was gunna clean up. But then Gil came over with his X-Box and, uh... I got distracted!"

"You are unbelievable..." he snapped at him. Alfred flinched a little then Arthur turned his attention to Gilbert, "And you!" he glared at him once more, "Get the hell out!"

Gilbert unhooked the console and darted out the apartment before Arthur could throw something at him. Being in Arthur's line of fire was not a fun experience.

As soon as Gilbert shut the door, Arthur shot his death glare to Alfred and snapped, "You are not sitting there playing games all night! I want to go to the movies and you, Alfred Jones, will bloody well take me!"

Alfred jumped to his feet and walked towards his annoyed British boyfriend with a sweet smile, "Arthur," he said in a soft tone as he wrapped his arms around his waist. Arthur tried to move away from him but the American held him tight, "I'm sorry."

"You better be."

"I am. Do you forgive me?" Arthur glanced up to see Alfred pouting at him.

"No."

"You have to. You love me."

"I don't."

"You do. Don't deny it."

"I don't," he said again with an air of childish stubbornness.

"You do," Alfred said in a sing-song voice and pressed little kisses to Arthur's cheeks, "You do love me and you always will."

"I get to choose the movie," Arthur said.

"Of course," Alfred said, though he knew he'd probably be sitting through some crappy romance movie. But he had a back-up plan for that.

"And you'll buy me whatever sweets I want."

"Yes sir," Alfred smiled and pressed another kiss to Arthur's cheek. The Englishman considered him for a moment then he nodded a little.

"Then you're forgiven."

"Awesome," Alfred smiled and captured Arthur's lips in a soft kiss. Arthur, for a moment, considered not responding in order to prove a point but the American had him wrapped around his little finger, what with all the little kisses and cuddles he received. Defeated once more, he leaned into the kiss and deepened it slightly.

Satisfied that he was now forgiven, Alfred pulled away slowly and pulled Arthur into a gentle embrace, "I am really sorry... I'll clean up next time."

"Oh, it's all right," Arthur sighed and moved away from the hug after a moment, "Just go and get ready."

Alfred beamed at him and placed a sloppy kiss to Arthur's forehead with a 'mwah' sound then bounded into the bedroom to take a quick shower and get changed.

* * *

><p>When they arrived at the theatre, Arthur happily exited the car and waited for Alfred to follow. He knew exactly what he wanted to see and he knew exactly what he wanted to eat. He held Alfred's hand after he locked the car and led him inside. Immediately, he walked to the counter and said the name of the movie he wanted to see (Alfred was right- it was a crappy romance movie) then looked at his boyfriend expectantly. Sighing, Alfred took out his wallet and paid for their tickets. Smiling sweetly, Arthur thanked the girl behind the counter and led the way over to where they could buy snacks.<p>

"What do you want?" Alfred asked and Arthur paused for a moment as he thought about it. The American watched him and sighed a little. He forced himself to enjoy himself- this was a date after all. It was rare they would do this sort of thing but it made Arthur so happy when they did. So he smiled and waited for his answer.

"I want gummy bears," Arthur said, "But I don't like the green ones, so make sure to get none of them."

Alfred watched him and said, "Arthur... you may end up having a few but I'll try my best. I am the hero after all!" he smiled again and went to get Arthur's sweets and an abundance of snacks for himself.

When he returned, Arthur looked inside his bag and scowled, "Alfred, what did I tell you?"

"Stop being so fussy," Alfred said and took his hand again, "You can just leave the ones you don't like, okay?"

Pouting, Arthur nodded and allowed the American to lead him into the theatre. After finding their seats, Alfred placed his big box of popcorn on the seat next to him then he placed his large soda in the cup hole then put a large bag of candy on his lap. Arthur, used to how much Alfred ate, didn't pay him any attention as he sorted through his packet of gummy bears. Finding more green ones than he liked, he picked them out and gave them to Alfred, who happily ate them.

The movie soon started and Alfred was already bored. To occupy himself he started to eat his popcorn... and by eating I mean shovelling as much as he could into his mouth at once and chewing noisily. Eventually Arthur shot him a glare, but because the room was too dark Alfred couldn't see it so the Brit nudged him instead.

"Wha?" Alfred asked with a mouth full of popcorn. Arthur wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"Stop chewing so loudly," he hissed at him before settling down again and turning his attention to the movie. Alfred merely shrugged and picked up his soda instead.

He started to slurp it and after a few seconds, Arthur nudged him again. Not expecting it, Alfred almost spat it out and he turned to look at Arthur curiously.

"What?"

"Stop slurping!"

"Fine... geez," Alfred pouted and did his best to stay as quiet as he could. He was now in a bad mood; he was sitting through a movie he didn't even want to see (he'd rather see the one about zombies) and he wasn't even allowed to enjoy his snacks how he wanted to. It just wasn't fair.

However... there was an up side to all of this.

Arthur, whenever he watched a romantic movie, would always get cuddly. It didn't matter where he was watching it, the sappy love scenes in the movie made him all fuzzy inside and he would always cuddle up to Alfred and the American knew it would continue when the movie was over. As if on cue, Arthur shifted a little and linked his arm through Alfred's and rested his head against his shoulder. He didn't take his eyes from the screen and it was as though he didn't know what he was doing, but Alfred knew he did.

Smiling and his bad mood now gone, he placed a small kiss on Arthur's head and let him hold on to him. The movie wasn't getting any better but if Arthur was happy, then so was he.

Alfred watched the screen but he didn't pay any attention to the movie. Now and then he would steal little glances at Arthur and he'd end up smiling a little. He looked so content- maybe that was because they were finally on a date or due to the fact the movie was so incredibly sappy. He didn't really notice that the ending credits rolled on and Arthur removed his arm from Alfred's.

"I like that," Arthur commented, bringing Alfred back to reality. The younger blond blinked and nodded.

"Yeah... I did too."

Arthur glanced at him then sighed, "There's no point lying... but thanks for sitting through it with me."

"Anything for you," Alfred beamed and kissed Arthur's forehead before gathering up their rubbish to throw away. Once they'd disposed of that, he took Arthur's hand again and led him out the theatre and to the car. When they were both comfortably seated, Arthur leaned over to Alfred before he could drive home and pulled him into a kiss. Obviously shocked by this, Alfred blinked for a moment then when he realised what was going on, he relaxed and kissed back. He tilted his head slightly to improve the kiss and he felt Arthur slip his arms around his neck the best he could. Alfred moved one arm around the Brit's waist and smiled into the kiss. Arthur held it for a little longer before pulling away with a small smile and a blush on his cheeks.

"I meant what I said. I do appreciate it..."

"And I meant what I said," Alfred smiled gently and as they moved away from each other he took hold of one of Arthur's hands and kissed it lightly, "I'm glad you had a good time."

Arthur smile broadened a little and in return so did Alfred's. He gave his hand a small squeeze before letting go and turning back to the front. He started the car, backed out of their parking space and he drove home.

* * *

><p>The two of them when they arrived home went straight to bed, and like Alfred had predicted, Arthur was still in his cuddly mood. It wasn't late, and they weren't tired, but Arthur just wanted to relax and Alfred was quite happy with that.<p>

Arthur climbed into best first after he got changed and cuddled up to the duvet. He looked over the top of it at Alfred, who glanced at him and he laughed.

"You look funny," Alfred snickered. All he could see were bright emerald eyes, thick eyebrows and a head on messy blond hair. He heard Arthur snicker in response as he approached and climbed into bed with him. Coaxing the covers off Arthur, he was then able to slip his arm around his shoulders and pull him close. Happy with this, Arthur rested his head on Alfred's chest and he smiled a little. Even though the start of the date had started a little rough, he had thoroughly enjoyed it and he glanced at Alfred.

"I wish we could have dates like this all the time," he said. Alfred nodded. They usually went on dates where they didn't have to spend money, like to the park. It was certainly nice to go to the movies once in a while.

"Yeah..." he said and placed a kiss on Arthur's head, "I know you like to go out and I wish we had more money..."

"I do too but we're getting by," Arthur said. He shifted a little to get a better look at Alfred and he frowned when he saw he looked troubled, "What's wrong?"

"I hate not having any money. I feel as though I can't provide for you..."

"You know I feel the same way—"

"But you shouldn't have to," Alfred interrupted, "I'm the hero. It's my job to look after you."

Arthur sighed a little. He hated it when Alfred got like this, "No Alfred. We look after each other."

Alfred glanced down at him and bit his lip, "But you do so much for me already, I just feel—"

"And I know..." Arthur smiled. He sat up and kissed his boyfriend softly and when he pulled away he said, "Things will get better, you'll see."

After a moment of consideration, Alfred finally agreed with him, "I guess."

"And besides, Alfred, money shouldn't really matter. Yes, I do wish we could go out and enjoy ourselves a little more and everyone wishes they had more money but we're happy aren't we?"

"Yeah..." Alfred said then smiled a little, "Yeah, we are."

"It's the little things in life that matter, Alfred," Arthur returned the smile, "And next time you think you have to be the hero, just think back to now and this conversation and remember that you have been all along."


End file.
